Fans of the Premier League in India will now be able to watch matches on JioStar from next season after the league agreed a new multi-year deal with the Indian broadcaster.
JioStar will broadcast Premier League games in India for the next three seasons, starting with the 2025/26 season and ending with the 2027/28 campaign.
The deal is worth a reported £51m over the next three years, with £42m covering rights fees and £8.7m to the Premier League for marketing commitments by JioStar in India.
JioStar is a new entity forged out of the Disney Star and Viacom18 merger, with Disney Star having extended its current deal with the Premier League after showcasing games on the Star India platform from 2022 until the end of the current 2024/25 season.
India represents a lucrative market for the Premier League despite football not being the most popular sport in the country, trailing far behind cricket.
Despite this, India’s seismic 1.429 billion population enables the Premier League and JioStar to build new fans through shared broadcast and marketing opportunities with its new deal.
India is not the only Asian country the league has secured broadcasting rights agreements with in recent weeks.
In November, the Premier League reached an agreement with Jasmine International to broadcast games across Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, in a multi-year deal potentially worth a reported £442m.
Similar to the deal in India with JioStar, live Premier League games will be available to watch, as well as match replays and highlights.
The Premier League has placed significant emphasis on securing these lucrative broadcast rights deals not only internationally, but also domestically. Last year, it secured a record £6.7bn deal with Sky Sports and TNT Sports for games in the UK to be broadcasted on these platforms until the end of the 2028/29 season.
The focus now on international markets can also be seen as a bid by the league to enact its popularity across the globe, with many teams such as Manchester United boasting large fan followings in many countries across Asia and the rest of the world.
